I urge you to pass a budget resolution that reflects the priorities outlined in President Obama’s budget proposal and provides the resources necessary to implement the president’s call to cap global warming pollution, invest in clean energy solutions and reinvest in our environment.

It is particularly important for Congress to pass a budget resolution that reflects the president’s commitment to solving global warming. At a time when we’re facing the greatest economic challenges since the Great Depression, capping global warming pollution would generate funds that could be invested in clean energy technology to spur job growth, improve our national security and protect our planet.

Also critical are the budget’s proposed funding increases across a broad spectrum of important environmental priorities, including clean, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, water infrastructure, cleaning up hazardous waste, preserving public lands and protecting wildlife.

President Obama’s proposed budget demonstrates a firm commitment to investing in a clean energy future and a healthier environment. Once again, I urge you to follow the president’s lead and vote Yes on a budget resolution that fulfills this vision.

Click here to go sign the letter to Congress.

Post from: The Good Human

Tell Congress To Vote Yes For President Obama’s Clean Energy Budget.

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Dear EarthTalk: What is aerial wolf gunning and why does Alaska governor Sarah Palin endorse the practice?

Aerial wolf gunning involves stalking and shooting wolves from low-flying planes and helicopters. The practice yields better results than traditional ground-based hunting since it allows hunters to cover lots of ground quickly and track prey from an unobstructed “bird’s eye” vantage point. For these very reasons, some hunters—as well as many environmentalists and animal rights advocates—consider aerial hunting unsportsmanlike and even inhumane since it violates the “fair chase” ethic.

Aerial hunting is mostly forbidden on U.S. public lands per the Federal Airborne Hunting Act, passed by Congress in 1972. But individual states can allow it for the sake of protecting “land, water, wildlife, livestock, domesticated animals, human life or crops.” Alaska governor Frank Murkowski exploited this language in 2003 and signed a state bill allowing Alaskans to apply for permits to kill wolves—which some Alaskans’ fear take a large toll on the moose and caribou that hunters like to shoot—from aircraft.

But when Sarah Palin, herself an avid hunter, took over the governorship in 2006, she instituted a $150 bounty for any hunter who killed a wolf from an aircraft in select areas where moose and caribou populations were not as large as hunters would have liked. A state judge quickly put a halt on the bounty, ruling that the Palin administration lacked the authority to offer such payouts. But the judge was powerless to stop aerial hunting itself as long as it was done in a permitted fashion in the name of “predator control,” per the loophole in the federal ban.

Palin also approved a $400,000 state-funded campaign that helped undermine a recent ballot initiative to ban aerial hunting, and also introduced legislation to ease restrictions on the practice. In the four years Palin has been governor, upwards of 800 wolves have been killed by aerial hunting in Alaska. Palin has joined influential groups such as the Alaska Outdoor Council in maintaining that wolf populations need culling, as the great canines are literally stealing food from the tables of Alaska’s many subsistence hunters who rely on moose and caribou kills to feed their families through the long cold winters.

But Rodger Schlickeisen of the non-profit Defenders of Wildlife says that it is Alaska’s small but politically influential commercial hunting interests—not subsistence hunters—who want to keep aerial wolf-gunning alive in the 49th state. “Their clear intention is to eliminate as many of nature’s major predators as possible to artificially increase moose and caribou numbers where it’ll then be easier for urban and wealthy out-of-state hunters to shoot their trophy animals,” he says, adding that scientific data do not show the need for stepping up predator control efforts.

Schlickeisen insists that most regular Alaskans are opposed to aerial hunting, even for the purpose of predator control. “Twice in the past 12 years, Alaska voters have approved state ballot initiatives to limit the use of aircraft to kill wildlife—and twice the state legislature, encouraged and abetted by the [appointed] board of game, has overridden the citizen-passed laws to restore use of aircraft,” he says.

CONTACTS: Alaska Outdoor Council; Defenders of Wildlife.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881 USA; submit it at EarthTalk; or e-mail us. Read past columns at our archives.

Post from: The Good Human

EarthTalk: On Aerial Wolf Hunting In Alaska.

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Post from: The Good Human

Congratulations To Barack Obama.

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Yes. We. Did.

We all don’t agree on everything and we never will. But I think we can all agree on one thing, and that is that we all witnessed a truly historical event last evening. My wife and I were glued to the TV for about 7 hours last night and oftentimes we had nothing to say – we were blown away by the enthusiasm of the people in the street, in the churches, in the bars, and in Grant Park in Chicago. Millions of people cared again after becoming complacent about their own country. No more. If last night showed anything, it showed that we are ready to act. Ready to end this war that should not have been fought in the first place. Ready to help all of our citizens and not just the wealthy. Ready to move forward with a renewable energy policy that will both create jobs but also help to slowly wean us off oil. It’s a long road – but one I am willing to walk down.

Yes. We. Did.

The excitement felt around the world last night as state after state was filled in blue was unmistakable. From places as far away as Kenya to Ireland and London, people were nervously awaiting the results of our election…that’s how big the stakes were last night. For about 2 years we have been working towards this day when we can feel hope again. After 8 years of the current administration, multiple wars around the world, financial collapse, a stagnant economy, job losses, rising costs, and more people falling into poverty, it would have been easy to give up. But we didn’t.

The first election I voted in was for Bill Clinton in 1992, and I have never cared about politics as much as I have this time around. We gave a bunch of money, spent time at the Obama headquarters here in Taos, and worked the phone banks- we truly, truly wanted to participate this time. And so did millions of other Americans, who gave up their free time to work to get President Obama elected. That’s how important this election was.

Yes. We. Did.

I leave you with this – like I said earlier, we all might not agree on everything. And that’s OK, as that is what a democracy is all about. But the more you participate in that democracy, the more of a voice you will have. So agree or disagree, when you participate, you don’t lose.

Congratulations to President Barack Obama for both breaking down some walls and bringing hope back to America.

So what does this election mean to you? How are you feeling today? Let’s discuss in the comments….

Post from: The Good Human

President Barack Obama.

You may also enjoy:

1. Congratulations To Barack Obama.
2. Greenwash Of The Week: ACCCE’s Obama/Clean Coal Ads.
3. Tell Congress To Vote Yes For President Obama’s Clean Energy Budget.
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5. Imagine.